Ulysse Nardin Chairman gets Android OS

Things you might also like

The Ulysse Nardin Chairman is a luxury smartphone. But wait! Unlike most other handsets in that market, it's not just a terrible low-end feature phone encased in gold - it's actually got a selection of specs that might make it worth more than the sum of its very expensive parts.

For starters, it runs Android. Whether you like Google's OS or not, it's hard to argue that that's not an improvement over the homegrown software found on most others in its class. It has a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, as well as physical numeric keys for people who just like pressing buttons, and a fingerprint reader.

Inside, there's an 8-megapixel camera, a massive 32GB of storage, and a Freescale i.MX processor that the company reckons can cope with HD video playback. The battery should last for 8 hours of talktime and 30 days on standby, but inside there's a kinetic power system and a winding dial that offer a bit of extra juice - like a luxury watch.

Essentially, it's got specs along the lines of the HTC Incredible, but with more storage and a big pile of luxury extras too. You might find the gold trimming in the picture above a little garish, but if you visit the company's pre-order page, you'll see that it's available in some slightly more tasteful colours too.

Pricing? Ahahaha. Not specified anywhere - sorry. It's a limited edition of 1846 copies, so don't expect it to come cheap. If you've got a pile of cash, though, then you can pre-order on the company's website.